DESCRIPTION: This is an application for a FIRST award. The goal of this project is to understand the synthesis, assembly and degradation of oligomeric membrane protein channels. Most experiments will be conducted on the gap junction protein, connexin, although other membrane protein channels will also be studied. The investigator will use cell-free and culture cell expression systems, as well as various mammalian tissues, toward the following specific aims: (1) to examine the subunit composition and stoichiometry of oligomeric membrane channels; (2) to characterize the mechanisms that underlie the assembly and subunit composition of membrane channels, and (3) to determine the specific factors and mechanisms in the synthesis and maturation of oligomeric membrane channels in intact cell systems.